The joint opening ceremony took place on September 5, starting at 7:30 AM and lasting for one hour. At the central broadcast point, located at Muong Khuong Boarding School in Lao Cai province, Prime Minister Le Minh Hung attended and performed the opening ceremony rituals.

Schools from preschool to university simultaneously observed the flag-raising ceremony and sang the national anthem. Approximately 100 inter-level boarding schools in border regions were inaugurated and officially commenced operations.

Afterward, schools organized initial academic year activities based on practical conditions, prioritizing students and keeping the ceremonial portion brief.

The first students of Tran Dai Nghia Primary School, Binh Hung Hoa ward, TP HCM, 8/2026. Photo: Quynh Tran

The 2026-2027 academic year carries the theme: "Innovating Mindsets - Driving Strong Transformation - Achieving Substantive Results."

The opening ceremony followed the most extensive reorganization of the public school network in nearly 50 years, which was largely completed on August 30. Nationwide, approximately one-half of primary and secondary school administrative units were reduced, leaving around 18,500 schools. Over 32,600 principals and vice-principals, along with 11,000 staff members, were subject to reassignment and job reallocation.

This streamlining of administrative units aims to shift decisively from a "managing education" mindset to one of "governing educational development." It seeks to optimize resources, reduce management personnel to increase the number of classroom teachers, enhance quality, and avoid disruption for students and parents. Many "super schools" have been formed, each comprising a main school with two to seven branch campuses or facilities.

Another new development is the nationwide adoption of the "Connecting Knowledge with Life" textbooks, after five years of implementing a single curriculum with multiple textbook sets. This change is expected to reduce disparities, facilitate learning for students, lower costs, and increase the shared use of educational materials.

Quang Ninh, Khanh Hoa, Hue, TP HCM, Ca Mau, Nghe An, Gia Lai, along with several wards and communes in other localities, have already implemented free textbook lending programs, three years ahead of the general schedule.

Among the key tasks for the new academic year, the education sector emphasizes building a system of genuine learning, genuine assessment, genuine talent, and genuine value, thereby overcoming the "achievement-driven disease" in teaching and learning.

Additionally, formalistic competitions and movements have been reduced to allow teachers more time to research, develop lesson plans, and provide care and support for individual students.

Other challenges facing the education sector include continuing to address localized teacher surpluses and shortages; establishing English as a second language in schools; reorganizing the network of higher education, college, and vocational institutions; and implementing strategies for high-quality human resource training, especially in basic sciences, core technologies, strategic technologies, innovation, and digital transformation.

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